Sack holder



Dec. 30, 1941. E. R. ERICKSON SACK HOLDER Filed March 5, 1940 Patented Dec. 30, 1941 UNITED STATES PATNT OFFICE.

SACK HOLDER Ernest R. Erickson, Des Moines, Iowa, assignor to C. E. Erickson Company, Incorporated, Des Moines, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Application March 5, 1940, Serial No. 322,269

4 Claims. (01. 211-50) My invention relates to a holder for, holding paper sacks of the kind now widely used. 1 Maintaining a supply of sacks of this kind in a store in such a manner that the pile or stack of sacks will not easily become disarranged and unsightly has been quite a problem. Various makeshifts have been devised but to the best of my knowledge none have satisfactorily fulfilled the requirements.

It is an object of my invention to provide a will accommodate sacks of various sizes without adjustment or other manipulation.

A further object is to provide such a holder which can be quickly and conveniently reloaded with a new supply of sacks when the original supply is exhausted or nearly so.

Another object is to provide a sack holder which requires no manipulation to place sacks in accessible position as the stock is used.

Another object is to provide a sack holding device which can be easily mounted on any convenient mounting surface.

Another object is to provide a holder which shall be ornamental and attractive in appearance, in keeping with the present trend toward neatness and simplicity in store fixtures.

Another object is to provide a sack holder which shall be simple and economical to manufacture.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a sack holding device embodying my invention, shown loaded with sacks of two different sizes.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of one end of the bottom member of my device.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a separator strip used in my device.

In the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeral to indicate generally a back plate which may be formed of sheet metal. The major portion of the plate ,lil constitutes a rearwall l2 for my sack holder. At the top of the rearvwall is an outturned flange l,4 -;which,

serves to reinforce the portion I 2. In the flange I4 I form holes I6 through which screws may be passed for fastening the device to a counteror the like.

Portions of the plate H] are bent at right angles to the rear wall portion l2 to form end panels I8, terminating in flanges along the front edges and flanges 22 along the bottom edges. Between the upper portions of the flanges 20, the retainer strip 24 is fastenedby means of screws 26. The strip 24 may be formed with return bent flanges 28 as reinforcement. It is preferably tapered in width, as shown in Figure 1.

The member constituting the bottom portion of my device consists preferably of a metal sheet 30 bent to the form best shown in Figures 2 and 3. One margin of the sheet 30 is folded over as at 32 to form a smooth edge and to give some degree of reinforcement. The sheet is then bent to form a front rail 34, a narrow horizontal portion 35 and the sloping portion 36. Another bend produces the portion 38, having a very steep slope. A third bend gives the portion 40, with a slope more like that of portion 36.

In use, my sack holder is loaded with sacks by inserting them in the top of the device, between the retainer 24 and the rear wall l2. The sacks are inserted with their bottom ends down, and with their bottom flaps 42 facing the front of my device. Thus when they rest on the bottom member 30 adjacent the front rail 34, the flaps of the sacks are exposed below the retainer 24, as may be seen in Figure 1.

The sacks can conveniently be removed one at a time from the holder by grasping the flaps and pulling downwardly. The difference in slope between the portions 38 and 40 in the bottom of my device, constituting in effect a surface which is convex upward and forward, results in bulging the sacks outwardly somewhat, below the retainer 24. This effect is increased by the steepness of the portion 38; the sacks along this portion tend to exert a wedging action, pressing forward on those in front. This causes the bottom flap 42 on the outermost sack to tend to extend outwardly from the rest of the sack, thus affording a ready grasp for the user.

The formation of all parts of the bottom mem. ber of my device, i. e., the portions 36, 38 and), with a rather steep slope, causes the sacks to tend to move forward in the holder, being then held in place by the retainer 24 and the front rail 34. Hence, no matter whether a particular stack of sacks theholderbe full or almost exhausted,-

the sacks will be in position adjacent the front of the holder where they can be readily grasped.

As may be seen from Figure 1, my device can be made of sufficient width to accommodate a number of stacks of paper sacks. The sacks may be of different sizes, as shown, and where this is the case it is desirable to make the retainer 24 in a tapered form, so that adequate space for large sacks is allowed between the front rail 34 and the retainer at one end of the holder (as at the right in Figure 1), whereas small sacks will be firmly and properly retained at the other end. The only requirement is that the top edge of the flap 42 must be exposed below the retainer 24 in order to afford a handhold. The open space in front of my device between the retainer 24 and the front rail 34 must therefore be of such dimensions as to permit the use of the largest sack which may be wanted.

Where several stacks of sacks are accommodated in the manner indicated, I provide separator means to keep adjacent stacks from etting mixed, and to hold them neatly in upright position. The means consists of metal stripsformed as shown in Figure 4. The arm 44 of the L-shaped strip is of suficient length to span the distance between the rear wall [2 and the retainer 24. The arm .46 may be somewhat shorter, and'fits into the channel 48 formed by the return bent flange 28 along thebottom edge of the retainer 24. A notch 50 in the arm 44 receives the upwardly directed edge of the flange 28. The arm 46 is preferably bent somewhat, as at 52, in order to occupy the full width of the channel 48. If desired, the bend may be sufiicient so that the bent portions must be sprung somewhat toward a straight line in order to slip into the channel. When insertion is made in this manner, the arm 46 will be retained in the channel by the spring reaction of its parts against the walls of the channel.

The arm 44 is preferably made long enough so that when the arm 46 is inserted .in the channel 48, the opposite end of the arm 44 will engage the wall l2 and be held in a slightly inclined position thereby, as seen in Figure 2. A wedging action results, whereby the end of the arm 44 is held firmly in place against sideward movement by its frictional engagement with the wall I2.

Separators formed as above described can be mounted along the lower flange to accommodate as many stacks of sacks as desired, and to keep adjacent piles of sacks from getting mixed or otherwise becoming disarranged.

Aside from the obvious economy of manufacture, the advantage of the construction and method of mounting indicated lies in the ease and convenience with which the sack holder can be arranged for a desired number of sacks of various sizes, simply by slipping the arms 46 of the necessary separators into the channel 48 at the proper spacings.

In the use of my sack holder, the removal of a sack from the holder involves a downward movement, as the top portion of the sack is pulled out from under the retainer 24. Friction against the succeeding sacks tends to aid the force of gravity in moving them down into proper position. It will be understood therefore that my sack holder provides a means whereby a supply of sacks of various sizes can be simply and conveniently maintained in neat order and with maximum accessibility.

When the supply in a particular stack is nearly used, new ones may be added by inserting them out the necessity of any special manipulation.

The construction indicated is clean-cut and attractive in appearance, as is demanded by the .modern vogue. My sack holder can be mounted on a wall or on the edge of a counter. 'It is relatively thin from front to back and hence takes up a minimum amount of space. The retainer strip 24 is adaptable to the display of an advertising legend or the like.

My device may be made with materials other than sheet-metal, inasmuch as many other substances may be formed to receive and feed sacks in the manner described above.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a sack dispenser, a supporting member, front and rear members for retaining sacks in position on said support member, a flange on said front member, and an L-shaped. separator member, one arm thereof engaging said flange and the other portion thereof extending from said flange to said rear member, said last mentioned portion being slightly longer than the distance from said flange to said rear member, whereby said separator member is retained in inclined position.

2. In a sack holder, a rear member, a bottom member sloping downwardly from said rear member, a sack retainer spaced forwardly from said rear member, a channel along the lower edge of said retainer, and an L-shaped strip, one arm of said strip being received in said channel, and the other arm of said strip extending from said retainer to said rear member, said one arm being bent along a transverse line so that it must be sprung somewhat in order to slip into the channel.

3. A device for supporting a supply of paper sacks comprising an enclosure into which sacks may be inserted from the top, said enclosure having a rear wall, end walls, a bottom portion sloping downwardly toward the front, a front wall, and an opening in said front wall through which sacks are withdrawn, said opening having a lower edge spaced above the lower end of said bottom portion, and having a top edge which will be above the top edge of the bottom flap of one of the folded sacks whensaid sack slides down the sloping bottom portion into position with the lower edge of said'sack adjacent the lower end of said sloping bottom portion, the front wall above said opening being formed with a rearwardly extending, upwardly opening channel, and a separator strip having two arms bent substantially at right angles to each other, one of said arms being received in said channel, and being bent transversely so that it must be sprung somewhat to be inserted in said channel, the

other of said arms extending from said front wall to said rear wall, and having a notch in one edge receiving the flange of said channel.

4. In a sack holder, a rear wall member, a bottom member extending downwardly and forwardly from said rear wall, an upstanding stop rail at the front edge of said bottom member, retainer means comprising a vertical panel spaced above said stop rail, the lower edge of said panel being formed with a return bend constituting a 19 rearwardly extending, upwardly opening channel, and a strip formed generally in an L-shape, one arm thereof being slightly longer than the horizontal distance between the rear wall and the retainer panel, and having a notch in one edge adjacent the second arm, permitting the second arm to be inserted in said channel, with said first arm wedged between the rear wall and the retainer panel.

ERNEST R. ERICKSON. 

